A Labour of Love!

Morning!!  You might want to grab yourself a cuppa if you're going to read to the end of todays post as there are a lot of photos lol!!  After collecting lots of little bits and pieces for over a year especially with this project in mind, I finally found time to create it!  It is a photo album of our holiday in France over three years ago!  Hasn't taken long to get around to it then lol!!!  The whole book has been made from chipboard I have been saving from the backs of my children's colouring pads and I have used one MME Lost and Found Sunshine 6x6 pad for the whole album except the back cover!  I wanted the front to look like a shabby french gite.  By complete coincidence I have used the colour palette from the Prima PPP for this month and have used a whole host of Prima products so have entered the challenge for the first time ever!  Here's some close ups...

...After adding papers I used gesso and a Prima brick wall mask to create the wall of the gite and I've then added some window elements from Prima.  The gorgeous blue flower is from Prima and so are the blossom branch and hydrangeas.  The daisy and rolled flower are from The Ribbon Girl.

Hanging from the branch above the window is a little birdcage - actually a charm - also from The Ribbon Girl.

I have attached the shutters so that one is open and the other is hanging by one hinge to add to the shabby feel.

Along the edge of the front cover I have added some gorgeous vintage cream lace from The Ribbon Girl and the pretty blue lace was a gift from my friend Louise.  I have added some more of the Prima flowers at the corner of the door.

I have stamped throughout the album using Stempelglede's Vintage Garden set.  To create the look of some worn plaster areas I have added some torn pieces of packaging here and there around the door ...

...and window.

The gorgeous doors are also from Prima and again I have attached one so that it is open and added some tulle trim to look like a curtain blowing out in the breeze.

Rather than spoil my "gite" with a title I created a tag using a Magnolia die and grungepaper to add to the ring binders at the side.  I painted the tag with gesso and added some stamping with weathered wood distress ink.  The letters are from Webster's Pages and then I have painted rock candy crackle paint over the top before inking with walnut stain distress ink.  I've added some more Prima flowers to the tag.

On the back of the tag I have added the date, also with Webster's Pages stickers.

I have used lots of tearing and distressing throughout the album to continue with the theme of the front.  The second page edge has been cut with Tim Holtz doily edge die.

The flowers are from Prima and the cute heart button is from Ribbon Girl.

I have left some areas of the pages free from paper on these next pages and painted them with picket fence crackle paint.

The button was cut with Tim Holtz Sewing Room die and the journal stickers are from Webster's Pages.

For the following day's pages I have used lace where the papers join, as well as tearing and punching.

I created a journal section by punching with an EK success punch along the edge to look as though the paper has been torn from a diary.  The little starfish is from Hobby Craft.

Here are the next two pages.

Again I used lace where the papers join along with some gorgeous Martha Stewart mini doilies which were a gift from my friend Debbie.

This BoBunny chipboard sticker was a perfect match for this page as there are fleur de lys motifs on some of the photos.

I used a whole Martha Stewart doily at the page edge to act as a journal area and page turner in one!  The "Fun" sticker is from Webster's Pages.

I have done something a little different on this next page...

...added some flowers my little boy collected on the trip!  I have used the corners of the plastic packets from scrapbooking supplies to keep the flowers safe and glued them to the page with glossy accents.

On these next two pages there is just some stamping and Webster's Pages journal stickers.  I have cut the page edge with Tim Holtz Plaque and Postage edge die...

...and added a shabby bow that I have created with some seam binding that sprayed with a brown glimmer mist to age it.

On this page I used the off cut section from using the Plaque and Postage die to create the fancy oval section on the left hand side...

...the gorgeous lace is another gift from my friend Louise and I have used some more Prima flowers and another button from The Ribbon Girl.

This gorgeous scrollwork element is from Bo Bunny.

I had a lot of photos to fit onto the last two pages so embellishments were kept to a minimum...

...just some alphabet chipboard stickers!

On the last page I created the back of the "gite" using papers from Bo Bunny and some more stencilling with the Prima brick mask.  Phew!  That's it!!  I hope I haven'te bored you too much if you've read to the end!  I hope you like my album and thanks for looking! x